Hard drives keep blowing

[Blondie]

This is my daughters build, currently a Gigabyte mobo running a 939 athlon. I can get exact specs if needed, it's my son's old build for those that remember...

Anyway, we're using (or I'm pretty sure anyway) a case like this Linkworld. I normally don't use such cheap cases for our builds but she liked that it was tinted blue.

Anyway, we've had 2 different mobo's in this, the outcome is always the same... master boot record not found. This is usually followed by the drive dying for what ever reason. I will use the gigabyte back up, restore windows, then a few weeks down the line it happens again until the drive is totally not seen. I swear she's gone through 8 hard drives in two years between the two mobo's. Right now she's on the 3rd for this mobo.

It's usually the boot drive that goes not the slave.

Hack had mentioned about a year ago that maybe the drives are heating up, which leads me to think maybe the case here is the problem. There are 2 fans in the front with a large one in the back. There's also a fan on the side of the case. I took the top fan out because it always caught food. It now has a screen on it.

The drives are always different brands, WD, Maxtor & Hitachi 40 giggers.

Thoughts?

[screwballl]

If the case came with a cheap power supply then it is likely power spiking your system and the hard drives are taking the brunt of it thus killing them... and if you've gone through 2 mobos then that is likely the problem. Even if it is a better brand PSU I would still suggest that is the problem. If there is even one fan blowing a little bit of air over the hd then you should be fine.

PS Good to see you again!

[onebxr]

I would suggest the ultra is killing your HDD's
-1

[gvblake22]

Make sure you are connecting the right kind of power to the drives. If it is a SATA drive and has power connections for both SATA and reguler 4-pin molex power, DO NOT CONNECT BOTH! You should just connect either the SATA power or the 4-pin molex power, not both.

Also, as screwballl mentioned, what power supply are you using with this system? It is very possible that the power supply is throwing a fit (going bad or is bad) and is not able to regulate power correctly to the peripheral power connections and is killing the drives. I've heard of people connecting part after part to a system trying to troubleshoot the problem and the parts keep dying. It usually takes a couple times before you realize that the power supply is a murderer and it is time for a replacement.

[Blondie]

Originally Posted by screwballl

If the case came with a cheap power supply then it is likely power spiking your system and the hard drives are taking the brunt of it thus killing them... and if you've gone through 2 mobos then that is likely the problem. Even if it is a better brand PSU I would still suggest that is the problem. If there is even one fan blowing a little bit of air over the hd then you should be fine.

This mobo worked perfect in another case. All of the mobo's worked fine until she got them. If you look at the specs below, you'll see everything has been changed out. She's had a total of 3 mobo's in the case. I had the original one I bought, then the drives started blowing. I then switched it out with my hubby's, also drive problems, then now the son's mobo..

Let me add specs:

Original -
Gigabyte GA-7N400S-L
Not sure on processor
Patriot 1GB (2 x 512MB) PC 3200
GIGABYTE GV-N52128DS GeForce FX 5200 128MB
DVD
PSU was case original, then switched out to ENERMAX Noisetaker 470W

switched to:
Gigabyte GA 7N400 Pro2
Athlon Barton 3200
1 gig Geil ram CAS 2.5
BFG 6800 OC
DVDRW
PSU - Enermax, changed to Aspire 520W

current -
Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939
BFG 6800 OC vid card
Athlon 64 3200 939
1 gig Geil ram CAS 2.5
40 gig Hitachi, 80 gig slave
Aspire 520W

The only common thing is the case. I've changed out PSU's thinking that was the problem, I've also changed out ram and for no reason she's running hubby's Geil right now, I still have her original Patriots sticks.

Update - think we got it figured out. Turns out the front fan was not sucking air in but blowing it out. Not sure who installed the fan in this case, it's usually hubby's job, but hard to say. It's an easy mistake to make.

Have the drive in my old machine, will back it up & run a disk check / fix, maybe I will get lucky that it will fix the files that are bad... a girl can only hope.

I still hate the case, and since we bought a new house, think it's a good excuse to upgrade the case. I'd hate to think this one will clash with her room or our new basement. If I order a new case, I will buy a new PSU so that she starts off fresh. I hate spending any kind of money on a 14 year old that doesn't do much but myspace & AIM.

Originally Posted by screwballl

PS Good to see you again!

Nice to see you too! I bet your little angel is getting big! Do you have new photos of her anywhere?

[Reloadron]

Hey Blondie, nice to see ya out and about! Nice home too, I assume you will allow for my visits and you guys will stock the bar?

Lets hope it was a heat issue as you seem to have played musical hardware enough.

Ron

[Blondie]

Originally Posted by Reloadron

Hey Blondie, nice to see ya out and about! Nice home too, I assume you will allow for my visits and you guys will stock the bar?

Let me know what you & the Mrs drink, we'll be stocked up.
We've looked at tons of houses since Fenruary and couldn't find anything until we walked into this one. We both said it was home at the same time. We got a really great deal on it because someone else spec'd it out and backed out, otherwise we couldn't afford much more then the base price of the house. Can't wait to soak in my jacuzzi!

Originally Posted by Reloadron

Lets hope it was a heat issue as you seem to have played musical hardware enough.

Ron

Reason i changed everything out was due to lack of time plus I had the parts anyway from others upgrading so I figured I'd upgrade her too while I was at it.

I'm error checking & defragging the drive. Hopefully I'll have time tomorrow to throw it back in. If it doesn't boot I will F9 it to get the Gigabyte restore going, then she'll be fine. I just backed the drive up, not much on it since it's only been running 3 weeks.

[screwballl]

If everything has been switched out at some point including power supply then it may as well be that fan as you mentioned. If all the fans are blowing out then the air has to come in somewhere but if the case is sealed up then there is little to no airflow causing the heat to build up.
Never had that problem but I have heard of rare cases where it happened elsewhere.

Nice to see you too! I bet your little angel is getting big! Do you have new photos of her anywhere?

Yeah she is in Kindergarten, is 5 1/2 now plus we have another one (also a girl) on the way. Due date is Jan 6 (but we suspect she will come just before or after Christmas, we are hoping after). I have all sorts of pictures, will PM you some info.

[Blondie]

To update this.. I slaved her drive to mine, it error checked, then I defragged & error checked again. I plugged her drive into her case, it booted fine. It ran great for a few days, till her friend came over, then blue screened again.

I ended up doing the gigabyte restore, and it's been running fine ever since.

I bought her a new PSU this 430w for a little over $20 after rebates. I also got her a Cooler Master Mystique, which was $30 after an email rebate. Once I opened the case, I decided it was too good for her & gave it to my son. I then found a Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP Black - $29.99 after rebates, which is a nice case, nothing fancy, no door for her to break. Since I was upgrading her case / PSU & the case for my son, I decided to get him this 600w PSU which was free after rebates. Both also got internal card readers to finish them off.

I still have to put her guts in the new case, hopefully this week. The son's is done, and looks great. I might have to buy another one of those cases to use for myself.

Originally Posted by screwballl

Yeah she is in Kindergarten, is 5 1/2 now plus we have another one (also a girl) on the way. Due date is Jan 6 (but we suspect she will come just before or after Christmas, we are hoping after). I have all sorts of pictures, will PM you some info.

I can't wait to see the pics.. Congrats on the new baby! Is she excited about it?